Care for the Soul of a Nation at War
Rev. Dr. Frances Sink
May 29, 2016
Sermon delivered at  
The Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Stamford, CT
They say, Our deaths are not ours: they are yours: they will mean what you make them.
They say, Whether our lives and our deaths were for peace and a new hope
or for nothing we cannot say: it is you who must say this.
from “The Young Dead Soldiers Do Not Speak,”

by Archibald MacLeish
Memorial Day was begun following the Civil War. The number of soldiers from both North and South who had fought for their country on American soil, died on American soil, and were returned home for burial in that soil was appalling and demanded a response from those who lived to make meaning of it all. It would have been hard to find lives in this country not touched personally by that war. People’s homes, their extended families, and their churches with their adjacent cemeteries were all nearby each other in hometown communities.
The day of commemoration we call Memorial Day was first known as Decoration Day because people gathered to decorate the graves of the soldiers who were their loved ones, neighbors, and friends. The gathering was a time for families and relatives to see each other, share memories, and join in dinner on the grounds.  The tradition sprang up spontaneously around the country and over time May 30 became a pretty reliable date for local commemorative gatherings with a parade, speeches by local officials and veterans, and picnics.  After the end of World War I it became a day to remember all American Military personnel who died in service to the country.
Memorial Day commemorations continue with the same theme, but the nature of war today and the relationship of most of us in America to the wars we are fighting is very different from the distant Civil War, or even from the not so distant Vietnam War. This past week with Memorial Day on the horizon, I couldn’t help reflecting on these differences, perhaps you did as well, as President Obama was in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday, May 25, and then at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial on Friday,May 27. My reflections primarily take the form of questions: How well do we know these wars, their impact and consequences, their mortal costs? Who specifically are we each memorializing this Memorial Day? And the ultimate question: how are we to follow Archibald MacLeish’s instructions today, to make the deaths of our soldiers matter by making meaning of the sacrifices they have made through their service?